Never before has an economic cycle been scanned, scrutinized and statisticized as thoroughly as the 42-month expansion that the U.S. now enjoys. Economists compute, project and adjust for all kinds of indices a 23.4% rise in G.N.P., a 27.6% increase in industrial production, a 62.5% climb in corporate profits, a 34% increase in stock values. But economic advances are as much flesh and blood as they are graphlines and columned totals. In this welter of statistics, how fare the 191.7 million Americans known collectively as the U.S. consumer?
The average consumer is making 20% more money since the...
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